How Creative Direction Elevates Your Brand Shoots

Taking professional pictures for your personal brand is an unavoidable step in building your reputation. From basic headshots to elaborate campaigns, you understand that brand photos elevate your personal brand, positioning you as a stylish, high-value expert. Yet, because there are so many moving parts and details for a photo shoot that you dread standing in front of another camera.

If you’re like many entrepreneurs, even though you’ve invested your time and money into professional brand photos, they still don’t fully tell the right story or align with your vision.

“I hate my photos”.

“I didn’t like what I was wearing.”

“My face looks fat.” OR “I need to lose weight.”

Sound familiar?

This is how I would feel after receiving photos from my brand shoots. Over the years, I had taken tons of pictures, but something was wrong with them all. Through no fault of the photographer, the pictures just weren’t right. My photos didn’t embody how I wanted to be viewed as a creative professional. I knew what I wanted to look like and how I wanted to come across. I just didn’t have the abilities to create my vision. For example, I feel I have great personal style, but my styling in the photos wouldn’t look polished or put together.

It was frustrating and overwhelming because, in preparation for the shoot, I created Pinterest boards to help guide the direction of my shoot. I thought I had it all covered, but my photos would fall flat. I was stumped, wondering what went wrong. I had hundreds of pictures for inspiration, but I was still unsure and ill-equipped on how to create a cohesive vision with the right story and message.

I've worked with women who’ve felt the same. They’ve spent thousands of dollars and invested a lot of time on the photos that should represent their personal brand online; yet their photos aren’t what they expected or planned for them to be. 

I understand how they felt. It wasn’t until I focused on personal branding for ambitious women did I realize where I went wrong: I didn’t have any assistance or direction. I was too close to the outcome for me to be creative and thoughtful in the process. Besides that, I was stressed on set and at times my photos looked like it.

That's why having a Creative Director to work out the details of your shoot before, during, and after is key. A Creative Director isn’t someone who shows up to set and bosses people around. Creative directors are hands-on, working alongside you to produce beautiful images and content. They make sure your story is told and that the right message is being shared.

Here are two quick benefits of collaborating with a Creative Director:

1 | Tell the right brand story. When your photos support your brand message and story, you’ll see your vision unfolding through your photos. A Creative Director merges your message and vision to curate the right brand story.

2 | Integrate your brand style and mood. In addition to curating a consistent brand narrative, Creative Directors assist with other critical components, including wardrobe selection, makeup & hair, location, set design, concept development, and casting. Coordinating all of the details that align with your brand personality isn’t something you just hop out of bed and do. Because your choices will make or break the shoot and how you appear to your audience, it’s vital that the details are well-planned and executed seamlessly. 

In conclusion, whether you're an entrepreneur, corporate executive, author, coach or expert of any kind who requires brand visuals, don’t DIY your brand photo shoot. That’s not your job. Your job is to show up and be great. A creative director’s job is to think through the big picture of a project and consider every aspect of it. They make sure that each piece of content on a website or in an advertisement follows your company’s brand. If you’re trying to assemble a photo or video shoot that makes your potential client say “Wow!”, get ready for all the pieces to come together.

If you are looking to bring your brand campaign to the next level, or even build a cohesive brand image from scratch, it might be time to call on a Creative Director.

Hi, I'm Toni, Brand Strategist + Creative Director for women leaders and nonprofits. I develop visual brands, strategy, and messaging, for women leaders and nonprofits to amplify their impact, voice, and mission. Let's start a conversation about your needs, vision, and goals. Visit brandcoachtoni.com for more information.